Anchor with retractable flukes

ABSTRACT

A SHIP&#39;&#39;S ANCHOR TAKES THE FORM OF A CYLINDER WITH RETRACTABLE AND EXTENDABLE FLUKES. THE CYLINDER CARRIES TWO CABLES. APPLICATION OF TENSION TO ONE CABLE EXTENDS THE FLUKES. APPLICATION OF TENSION TO THE OTHER CABLE RETRACTS THE FLUKES.

Nov. 23, 1971 R. F. BROWN 3,621,806

ANCHOR WITH RETRACTABLE FLUKES Filed May 16, 1969 United States Patent3,621,806 ANCHOR WITH RETRACTABLE FLUKES Robert F. Brown, 400 Cedar St,Clearwater, Fla. 33515 Filed May 16, 1969, Ser. No. 825,155

Int. Cl. B63b 21/44 U.S. Cl. 114208 R 8 Claims ABSTRACT OF THEDISCLOSURE SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION My invention includes a hollowcylinder having a head and a tail portion, said portion having aplurality of ports. A like plurality of flukes are pivotally secured atone end to a member which under the control of two cables can be movedslidably within the cylinder, towards the head portion when one cable ispulled and towards the tail portion when the other cable is pulled. Whenthe member is positioned adjacent the head portion, the flukes aredisposed within the cylinder, and are thus retracted. When the member ispositioned adjacent the tail portion, the flukes extend out of theports. The ports are so shaped that the flukes are pivoted outwardlyfrom the cylinder as well as extending out of the ports whereby theflukes are in extended position.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS In the drawings:

FIG. 1 is a cross sectional side view of my invention with the flukesretracted;

FIG. 2 is a similar view with the flukes extended;

FIG. 3 is a cross section taken along the line 3-3 in FIG. 1;

FIG. 4 is a cross section taken along the line 4-4 in FIG. 1;

FIG. 5 is a cross section taken along the line 55 in FIG. 1; and

FIG. 6 is a side view of a portion of the structure of FIG. 1.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF PREFERRED EMBODIMENTS Referring now to FIGS.1-6, there is shown a main hollow cylindrical section 10 with a solidbutt end 12 and extending rearward via a reducing throat 24 to anextension 14 of smaller diameter. A flexible elongated housing 16 issecured at one end to the end of extension 14. Housing 16 has onecentral bore 18 communicating with a central bore 20 in extension 14which in turn communicates with the chamber 22 in section 10. Throat 24has a plurality of equidistantly spaced ports 26 which open inclinedlyoutward and rearward of section 10.

A flat disc 28 has elongated flukes 30 pivotally secured at one end tothe periphery thereof in equidistantly spaced positions. A hollow shank46 secured at its top end to disc 28 extends in bore 20. A roller orpulley 32 disposed 3,621,806 Patented Nov. 23, 1971 in a hollowed topportion 34 of chamber 22 supports a cable 36. One side of cable 36 issecured to the disc and extends through the shank 46 and bore 18 to besecured to a first cable pull 38. The other side of cable 36 extendsthrough a second bore 40 in extension 14 and a second bore 42 in housing16 to be secured to a second cable pull 44.

Tension on one cable pull causes disc 28 to move to the position of FIG.1 with the flukes withdrawn and tension on the other cable pull causesthe disc to move to the positionof FIG. 2 with the flukes extendingoutwardly through the ports. a

A locking means is provided to secure the shaft 46 in a desired, fluteextended position (-FIG. 2). This locking means comprises grooves 48formed on shaft 46 in position to engage ball bearing means 50. Thesebearings are spring biased so as to be forced into locking engagementwith grooves 48 thereby serving to maintain the shaft in a desiredpostion.

Typically, the anchor is formed of steel and plastic but any materialswhich can withstand anchor use can be substituted.

While I have described my invention with particular reference to thedrawings, such is not to be considered as limiting its actual scope.

Having thus described this invention, what is asserted as new is:

1. An anchor comprising a hollow cylindrical section having a butt endand a throat end, a plurality of radially disposed ports on saidcylindrical section, a transversely extending member arranged withinsaid cylindrical section and including a first cable and a second cableoperatively attached to opposite sides of said transversely extendingmember such that said member may be selectively moved from said butt endto said throat end of said cylindrical section, a plurality of elongatedflukes, pivotally secured at one end to said transverse member andarranged such that said flukes are retracted into said cylindricalsection when said transverse member is approximate to said butt end, andwherein said flukes are extended out of said radially disposed portswhen said transverse member is proximate to said throat end.

2. The anchor of claim 1 wherein said transverse member comprises atransversely extending disc having a concentrically attached hollowshank extending from said disc toward said throat end, said disc havingsaid plurality of flukes pivotally attached at the peripheral edgethereof and arranged such that'i said disc and said shank are slidablewithin said cylindrical section.

3. The anchor of claim 2 wherein said first cable extends through saidshank and is attached to the bottom side of said disc, said second cableis attached to the top side of said disc and extends around roller meansfixedly attached to said butt end of said cylindrical section andoutward through said throat section whereby upon application of atension force along either said first or second cables said shank andsaid disc will slidably move within said cylindrical section.

4. The anchor as described in claim 1 wherein said throat end has aflexible housing secured thereto, said housing having channels adaptedto receive said cables.

5. The anchor as described in claim 1 wherein said cylindrical sectionhas a head portion adjacent to said butt end, an extension portion of asmaller diameter than said head portion, said extension portion beingadjacent said throat end, said plurality of said radially disposed ports,being located at the junction between said head portion and saidextension, a shank connected to said transversely extending member andarranged to extend into a central channel within said extension.

6. The anchor of claim 5 wherein said plurality of elongated flukes arearranged such that as said transversely extending member is moved towardsaid extension the free end of said flukes will impinge against saidextension and be urged out of said radially disposed ports whereby saidflukes will be extended outwardly from said cylindrical section.

7. The anchor of claim 6 wherein said central channel in said extensionis arranged to sIidi-ngly receive said shank and further wherein saidcentral channel has dis- 1 posed therein ball bearing guiding meanswhereby said shank is guided in its sliding movement within said centralchannel. a

7' 8; The anchor as described in claim 7 wherein locking 2,366,9971/1945 Brand 52-160 3,071,095 1/1963 Davis 114208 2,863,535 12/1958Clapper 52161 MILTON BUCHLER, Primary Examiner F. K. Y-EE, AssistantExaminer US. Cl. X.R.

